Himachal braces for snow, rain from Wednesday

Shimla, Feb 12 (IANS) The hills of Himachal Pradesh on Tuesday saw a rise in mercury due to prevailing dry conditions after a wet spell, but the Met has forecast rain and more snowfall starting Wednesday.

A fresh western disturbance and its interaction with tropical easterlies was likely to set in from Wednesday, a meteorological official told IANS.

It would likely result in scattered rains or snow on Wednesday and fairly widespread and even heavy rain and snow on Thursday and Friday across the state, he said.

There were also chances of hailstorm over low hills, the weather official added.

He said the western disturbances – storm systems originating from Caspian Sea and moving across the Afghanistan-Pakistan region – would start receding from the region thereafter.

Most of the prominent tourist towns like Shimla, Narkanda, Kufri, Manali and Dalhousie, located in mid-hills, may witness snowfall.

Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti district was the coldest place in the state Tuesday with a low of minus 9.6 degrees.

Shimla recorded the minimum temperature at 7.4 degrees Celsius, a rise from Monday’s 4.1 degrees, while it was minus 3 degrees in Kalpa in Kinnaur district.

It was 0.6 degree in Manali, 6.4 degrees in Dalhousie and 5.4 degrees in Dharamsala, where Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, lives.